Born in Waterford in 1959, Eugene Byrne emigrated to England at the age of six weeks and grew up in a small town in Somerset where he was the local racial minority until he was old enough to leave and start work as a bank clerk in another small Somerset town.

He went on to study history and politics at the university of Lancaster before deciding to settle in Bristol mostly on the strength of seeing a mummy being dissected at the city museum on CCTV.

Since then he has worked as a freelance journalist and novelist. "What this actually means is that you have several careers running in parallel," he says. "As a freelance, you tend to become a specialist in a lot of unlikely areas. In my time, I've been employed by newspaper and magazine editors for my knowledge of various bizarre things that interest me." These include new religious movements ("don't call them 'cults' or they'll sue"), psychological warfare, the Second World War, assorted bizarre and Fortean phenomena ("but please note I don't do UFOs. Not ever."), history and heritage in general and various things he's too embarrassed to talk about which he only did for the money. He is also Consulting Editor of Venue, Bristol's local news and entertainment magazine and is retained by BBC History magazine to answer weird questions sent in by readers, such as who "invented fish & chips?" or "why do we drive on the left hand side of the road?"

His books include 'Back in the USSA', co-written with his old schoolfriend Kim Newman, 'ThiGMOO', 'Things Unborn' and a biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in comic form, drawn by Bristol artist Simon Gurr. He is currently working with Simon on a graphic history of Bristol.

He lives in quietly-desperate suburban respectability with his wife and two children, does all his own ironing and only ever drives Skoda cars.

His personal website can be found here.